'For more than forty years, readers of The Age newspaper have learned about the latest films through the interpretations and judgements of Brian McFarlane, now himself a Melbourne institution of sorts. Over that time McFarlane’s reviews of and articles on film have also featured in Australian Book Review, Cinema Papers, Inside Story, Meanjin, Metro, Screening the Past, Senses of Cinema, Sight & Sound, and many other newspapers, magazines, and journals.
'This selection of McFarlane’s writings on film, taken as a whole, tells a story about what has brought us back to the cinema again and again, from recent times to a now more distant past. In his attuned but easy style, sprinkled with wit and insight, our guide brings back memories, fills gaps in our knowledge, triggers conversations, and inspires delight and enthusiasm.
'Making a Meal of It is a first-rate resource for film buffs and excellent dinner-table company.' (Publication summary)
Contents; Introduction, by Ian Britain;
PART I: Starters; Film Reviews; 1. My Brilliant Career; 2. Nijinsky; 3. Gallipoli; 4. 84 Charing Cross Road; 5. Hope and Glory; 6. Comrades; 7. The Whales of August; 8. There's a Lot Going On in Australia: Baz Luhrmann's Claim to the Epic; 9. Shakespeare's Brave New World and Julie Taymor's Tempest; 10. The Odd Couple: Language and Life Lessons in The King's Speech; 11. Cloudstreet anew. 12. The Filmmaker as Adaptor: Fred Schepisi Takes On Patrick White in The Eye of the Storm 13. A Tale of Two Terences: The Deep Blue Sea; 14. Much Ado About Nothing: 'Oh, what a merry war'; 15. Shuttlecock: What Maisie Knew; 16. All That Glitters ... The Great Gatsby; 17. No Surrender: Suffragette; 18. Taking the Plunge: The Water Diviner; 19. Sunset Song; Book Reviews; 20. Ealing Studios; 21. Days of their Lives; 22. Some Kind of a Man. Orson Welles: The Stories of His Life; 23. Conjuring the Rebel without a Pause. The Rebel: An Imagined Life of James Dean. 24. A Cinema Torpid But Not Terminal. Icons in the Fire: The Decline and Fall of Almost Everybody 25. Flaunting Your Perfections. The Original Million Dollar Mermaid: The Annette Kellerman Story; 26. Hepburn Springs Eternal. Kate; 27. A Poignant Tale Worth Playing Again. Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography; 28. Australian Screen Classics. Alvin Purple; 29. I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film; 30. The Spellbinder. God of Speed; 31. 'He really was a contender'. Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando. 32. Bowery to Broadway: The American Irish in Classic Hollywood Cinema 33. 'Mommie dearest' Just One Role Among Many. Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford; 34. One Man in His Time. John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star; 35. Out of the Dark. I Found It at the Movies: Reflections of a Cinephile; 36. Routes of Passage. Stillways. The Long Road to Overnight Success; 37. John Wayne: The Life and Legend; 38. The Trouble with Ackroyd. Alfred Hitchcock;
PART II: Mains; 39. The Biography Industry: Creatures Great and Mostly Small; 40. Local/Global: The Bank and Lantana. 41. Mothers: Some Kids do 'ave 'em 42. Portraits in Celluloid; 43. Shooting Minds; 44. Size Doesn't Matter: Big Stupid Films; 45. Country Towns in Australian Films: Trap or Comfort Zone?; 46. From Rock of Ages to Rock 'n' Roll; 47. Softly and Tenderly ... ; 48. Finding Ourselves in Australian Films; 49. A Curmudgeon's Canon: Random Thoughts on Summer Heights High, The Office and Other Nasty Pleasur; 50. How Weird Does this Mob Still Seem?; 51. Kath & Kimderella: From Box to Multiplex; 52. The Voice of a Generation;
PART III: Afters -- or Just Deserts.
'One of my favourite podcasts at the moment is called The Rewatchables. It deconstructs movies (mainly from the 1990s and 2000s) and offers an enjoyable mix of amusement, nostalgia, and insight. It also speaks to the desire, particularly strong in the internet age, to hear what other people think about content already enjoyed. Brian McFarlane’s Making a Meal of It: Writing about film offers a somewhat similar experience in written form. The book – divided into three parts that play on its prandial title – is a collection of previously published reviews and essays by one of Australia’s pre-eminent film writers.' (Introduction)
'One of my favourite podcasts at the moment is called The Rewatchables. It deconstructs movies (mainly from the 1990s and 2000s) and offers an enjoyable mix of amusement, nostalgia, and insight. It also speaks to the desire, particularly strong in the internet age, to hear what other people think about content already enjoyed. Brian McFarlane’s Making a Meal of It: Writing about film offers a somewhat similar experience in written form. The book – divided into three parts that play on its prandial title – is a collection of previously published reviews and essays by one of Australia’s pre-eminent film writers.' (Introduction)
